Not sure how many times we are going to run the playtest before we get new materials, so I cobbled together a 1-3 bladesinger class using the 4th Edition one as a model. Bladesinger Class Features Arcane Aegis: While wearing no armor you gain a +2 bonus to Armor Class. Arcane Arsenal: When wielding some kind of […]
By now you have already downloaded the D&D Next playtest files, browsed through them, and probably even ran the adventure. For those curious as to how the playtest arrived in its initial state, this Legend & Lore article provides a behind-the-scenes glance, including some ideas on making the game more “old-school” or to try out […]
After reading through the documents I am, short of a handful of issues, fairly hopeful and enthused with this initial iteration. There is a larger emphasis on non-combat abilities, such as stonecunning (dwarves know depth, can retrace path, and identify age and culture responsible for stonework), the researcher background perk (when you try to make […]
I spent yesterday reading through the playtest documents for D&D Next, and will post my initial impressions sometime this weekend. For now though I am trying to play catch up with some previous blog entries, starting with this one (for the record, the earliest magic item I can recall nabbing was a two-handed sword +1, +2 […]
Huh…so, healing surges by another name? The only difference that I can see is that you regain randomized amounts of hit points instead of a flat value. Actually, I guess it is based on your level so they increase faster? It kind of reminds me of Dragon Age, where you regain a random amount of […]
Between playing an unhealthy amount of Diablo 3, spending the weekends out of the house, and a more recent article on hit points and healing surges, I had almost forgotten about paladins. I am glad to see that paladins will follow codes that reflect on their deity. Having a singular code regardless of god was kind […]
It has been hard keeping up with a homebrew campaign, a homebrew ruleset, blogging, and…well…Diablo III, so I will try to keep this brief: I prefer the first owlbear he pitches, as it looks more bear than…gorilla, I guess? Do not get me wrong, the second one certainly looks menacing, even if it seems to be […]
Here are some tidbits from the chat that I enjoyed: Mearls: Hmmm… let’s see. I’ve been DMing mostly, and the rules have changed a lot over the past few days. Probably the funniest thing was guest starring as a librarian in a playtest game at DDXP. Also, I got to test the DR rules when […]
“Characters get four things–skills or traits.” This model kind of reminds me of a combination of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons and Exalted, in that skills grant a flat bonus to a variety of related things, but you can opt to nab other things if you want. A workshop was specifically mentioned, but I could also see […]
Fiiinally. Stating that the wizard “casts spells” is basically a 30-year old mission statement. We got that figured out. What I want to know is how, and I would preferably like that how to make sense from a narrative perspective. In 2nd Edition wizards had to study their spellbooks to “memorize” their spells. When they […]
Points of Light 